Rabbi Israel Dresner (left) and Rabbi Martin Freedman of New York are charged with unlawful assembly after their arrest with other Freedom Riders for attempting to eat at an airport restaurant in Tallahassee, FL.

Rabbi Israel “Si” Dresner

On why he became involved in the Rides

Rabbi Israel “Si” Dresner

On value of nonviolence

Rabbi Israel “Si” Dresner

On Kennedy's racial attitudes

The Movement

The Freedom Riders represented a cross-section of America - black and white, young and old, religious and secular. "The Freedom Rides were trying to say to America: we are a diverse country - let's act like a diverse country, where every part of the diversity is equal, and is treated equally," says Freedom Rider Rabbi Israel Dresner.

The Inspiration

Mahatma Gandhi's nonviolent movement to free India from British colonial rule inspired American civil rights activists who had immersed themselves in Ghandi's teachings and viewed non-violence as an effective way to challenge the tyranny of the Jim Crow South.

Bernard Lafayette, Jr.

On nonviolence as a strategy

C.T. Vivian

On the impact of employing nonviolence

James Lawson

On nonviolence training in Washington DC and Nashville

James Lawson

On the logic of nonviolent intervention

Victory for Nonviolence, part 1

Freedom Riders participated in CORE training sessions before getting on the bus.

Victory for Nonviolence, part 2

Rabbi Dresser and Delore Boyd comment on the power of nonviolent methods.

The Strategy

In the early 1960s, activists impatient for change turned to a new strategy: non-violent direct action.